NOTES for Act 19:6

What is the relation, the connection, between baptism and the descent of the Holy Spirit? In the second chapter of Acts, baptism is accompanied by the manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit (2:38); in the eighth chapter, baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus did not lead to the outpouring of the Spirit (8:16); in the tenth chapter, the descent of the Spirit precedes baptism (10:44-48); now in the nineteenth, for the Ephesians there was need for John's baptism, baptism in the name of the Lord, and also the laying on of Paul's hands. Truly, the Spirit breathes where He wills (John 3:8)!

Second, what is the connection between the gifts of the Spirit and salvation? If salvation is given through faith and baptism (Matt. 16:16), then why the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Perhaps the Holy Spirit gives those being saved power for witness?

Third, why does the book of Acts insist precisely on these gifts of the Holy Spirit, tongues and prophecy? After all, Paul writes of many other gifts of the Spirit manifested in the Church (1 Cor. 12). Perhaps the point is that here it tells of gifts manifested in people immediately after conversion; these gifts are visible at once, while others, such as the gifts of healing, teaching, and working miracles, appear later.